My goal for this week was to hit 10K. I did it - and this morning I hit 15K, which means I'm three days ahead of the minimum word count and averaging 2.5K a day. This is great, especially as I'm unlikely to be writing much this weekend so needed that extra buffer really.

For next week, my goal is 30K. That means I really need to keep this momentum going after the weekend. Minimum word count by next Friday (according to official NaNoWriMo recommendations, that is) is 21,671, so if I meet my goal I'll be well ahead.

The last two years I've found hitting 1667 words a day a bit of a struggle, but this year I'm finding it much easier. I think the key is that I've been writing so much more this year. I'm lucky in that I do tend to write quite quickly - inevitably this means there will be that much more editing to do, but that's okay. I'm just hoping this streak continues, because I'm loving every minute.

Last week I mentioned my collage and soundtrack. I've been listening to the soundtrack regularly, although only when I'm about to write - usually in the morning while I'm having breakfast. I've also put a version of my collage into my project notebook, which is fantastic - each place and person has a page in the book with pictures, where I can jot down anything I need to remember. This is already proving invaluable as I try to keep track of everything going on. Anyway, the fabulous Pamela Cayne asked to see my collage. The structure surprised me, as the last collage I did was more just a collection of images. This one has a timeline running through it of all the places involved in the story - starting top left, running to bottom right - pictures for all the key characters, and images for some of the themes as well. It's different, but I like it. Here it is - click on the image to see a larger version.



Current word count:

15394 / 50000 words. 31% done!

I'm a day late posting, but I seem to be a day behind on all my goals this week.
Finish ficlet
Story plotting using How to Think Sideways methods
Collage I did finish the ficlet way back at the beginning of the week. The collage however was put off until today (and first I had to figure out how to transfer the last one from where it was beautifully blu-tacked to the whiteboard to a sheet of paper I could actually keep it on). I did spend a couple of hours mid-week finding pictures, but it wasn't until today that I actually compiled them.

There were two reasons for the delay, and these also explain why I've failed to complete the plotting modules. As you may remember, last week I'd decided that I was going to write a completely non-magical story this time around. Well... that sort of fizzled out. As soon as I tried to take it a step further than concepts and actually work out a story, I realised I didn't care enough to write it. So instead I'm writing a fantasy story that's been hiding in the depths of my imagination for a few years - I finally feel it might be the time to write it. So today I found names for the four key characters, and then I put together a collage.

It's now 21:45. I have two hours and fifteen minutes until NaNoWriMo starts. I really want to get some key plot points outlined on paper before I go to bed - I have a very rough idea in my head, but I want more so that when tomorrow morning rolls around I can get on and write. So... that's tonight's goal. As for my week's goals - well, they're pretty straightforward, given the month.
Hit 10K in NaNo story
Blog post I am choosing to ignore the fact that I'm going to be away from home for the next ten days. Must be optimistic...

Current word count:

0 / 50000 words. 0% done!